Gerri Silverman, who served on a panel that advised Nancy Reagan on the nationally televised program "Chemical People," brought that message to about 200 adults Wednesday night at Phillipsburg Catholic High School, as part of Phillipsburg Area Drug Prevention Week activities.

Silverman, a mother of six from Short Hills, N.J., lectures to students - mainly 5th and 6th graders - on the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.

Billed as a "one-woman war against drugs," Silverman encouraged those attending the program to educate themselves about the drug problem in today's society so that they can start educating their children about it at an early age.

"This is how you learn - through experience," she said, adding that she believes drug education should begin at the kindergarten level and the knowledge should be reinforced throughout the school years.

The fight to control drug abuse among our country's youth is no longer the responsibility of the schools and the police, said Silverman. "You are the difference, and it's going to take all of us to make that difference," she said.

"You're only going to get one shot at them. Make it your very, very best shot. You can make a difference, not only to Phillipsburg or the state - your country in on the line."

Silverman, who in 1980 testified before the congressional committee on look-alike drugs and drug trafficking, and the Senate judiciary committee on the health hazards of marijuana, said, "The United States is a people of 240 million, and we have theunique distinction of being a country of drug and alcohol abusers." In comparison, the population of China, according to Silverman, is 1 billion "drug-free" people.

Contrary to the popular belief that drug abusers come only from poorer environments, she noted that the backgrounds of abusers are widely varied. "Look at David Kennedy," she suggested. "Did he come from the pits?"

John Belushi, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Elvis Presley - their names are synonymous with drug abuse and death. Yet, the entertainment industry continues to make light of a problem which has reached epidemic proportions, according to Silverman.

Johnny Carson jokes about it. In the movie "9 to 5," Lilly Tomlin gets a joint from her teen-age son. She, Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda proceed to get high.

Even the classic film "The Wizard of Oz" makes reference to drugs. Remember when Dorothy fell asleep in the poppy fields? The highly addictive drug opium is derived from the poppy plant, as well as other drugs such as morphine and heroin.

"There's a big message out there," said Silverman, "Drugs are here to stay. We just have to learn how to handle them, and we have to be informed about them."

The majority of the drugs around today have been discovered since the end of World War II, said Silverman. "That's less than 40 years' worth of experience" with many drugs, she said, citing Agent Orange, whose effects on those exposed to it wasn't realized until years after the Vietnam War, which she called "the real, real beginning" of the drug problem in the United States.

Silverman, whose involvement in anti-drug activities began in 1978 when she led a successful campaign to oust two drug paraphernalia stores from the Livingston (N.J.) Mall, said the drugs most frequently abused in this country are marijuana, cocaine and heroin - in that order.

Within the last three years, the usage of cocaine is up, and the price is down. "Now you can get a gram of coke for about the same price as a lid (about an ounce) of marijuana. And God know what it's cut with."

She compared marijuana, which is fat-soluble, with alcohol, which is water-soluble. She said the chemicals in marijuana stick to the fattiest parts of the body - the brain, the lungs and the reproductive organs - and they remain there for about one month. Those who smoke marijuana have 10 times more of a chance of getting lung cancer than those who smoke cigarettes, she said. She added that researchers so far have discovered a total of 421 different chemicals in marijuana. As for alcohol, she said, it's released from the body within 12 hours.

According to Silverman, the ancient Greeks banned wine from their society in about the year 3000 B.C. because they believed it caused birth defects.

She said those in the 15-24 age group are dying 15 percent faster than any other age group in the country, because they are the ones who abuse drugs most. She cited accidents, the number one killer, suicide and murder, all because of alcohol and drugs.

"There's always a price," she observed. "Sometimes you pay for it right away, and sometimes you pay for it afterward."